This invention relates to a dental prosthetic device and in particular to a nonmetallic dental post and method of fabrication and installation. The nonmetallic dental post utilizes materials that have found acceptance in dentistry for use in fabricating crowns, bridges and other restorations. Such materials include ceramic optimized polymers and fiber-reinforced composite materials that are tooth-colored and mutually compatible for forming complex restorative structures that are natural in appearances.
In the past, metal in the form of a silver amalgam has been extensively used to fill cavities as a result of treating caries by drilling. In part because of concern for the use of toxic mercury in the amalgam, weakening of the tooth, and in part of aesthetic reasons. New compositions were created to provide a tooth filling that was durable and tooth-like in appearance. Similarly, metal, particularly gold, has been used to fabricate crowns for damaged or endodontically treated teeth. New porcelain and ceramic compositions permit strong cap or crown structures to be fabricated for mounting to the remaining stub of a prepared tooth. However, where insufficient natural tooth remains in order to secure a crown, a structural post is installed in the tooth to provide a mount for the fabricated restorative denture, crowns or bridges.
There are three basic types of posts used in dentistry today: the prefabricated, the cast, and the one piece post and crown. To restore an endodontically treated tooth, conventional dental therapy dictates the placement of a metal post and core, and a metal or porcelain-fused to metal crown that is placed onto the post. Clinically, over time a cemented metallic post often causes a tooth to fracture, sometimes resulting in the loss or extraction of the tooth. To avoid the structural incompatibility of a metal post with a tooth that has had a root canal treatment, the flexible, nonmetallic post of this invention was devised. The nonmetallic post is structurally flexible to distribute forces uniformly in the remaining tooth stub, substantially reducing the potential of fracture. Additionally, the tooth-like color and compatibility of the material forming the nonmetallic post with the natural tooth make the resulting restoration aesthetically pleasing as well as structurally sound.